The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has condemned recent public appeals by some South-East political figures urging President Bola Tinubu to grant a pardon to its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu, describing the requests as “shameful” and a distortion of legal realities.
In a statement on Tuesday, IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, criticised comments by former Lagos lawmaker Jude Idimogu, who reportedly asked Tinubu to release Kanu as a political gesture to boost the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 elections and revive the South-East economy.
Powerful dismissed the plea as “self-serving opportunism and betrayal,” insisting that Kanu is not a criminal in need of clemency but a “prisoner of conscience” whose detention has been declared unlawful by multiple courts.
“Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was unlawfully abducted from Kenya on June 27, 2021, in violation of Kenyan sovereignty, Nigeria’s Extradition Act 2004, and international treaties,” Powerful stated.
The group cited a Kenyan High Court ruling declaring Kanu’s arrest illegal and an October 13, 2022 judgment of the Nigerian Court of Appeal, which discharged Kanu and held that no Nigerian court had jurisdiction to try him due to his extraordinary rendition. IPOB maintained that the appellate court’s decision amounted to a final acquittal under Nigerian law.
It dismissed the Supreme Court’s December 15, 2023 ruling that returned the case for trial as a “nullity,” claiming it violated constitutional provisions against double jeopardy. The group also argued that the charges were based on repealed terrorism laws without any saving clauses, rendering the ongoing proceedings before Justice James Omotosho “void ab initio.”
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According to IPOB, appeals for presidential pardon undermine judicial authority and embolden authoritarianism.
“Begging Tinubu reinforces dictatorship, portraying Nigeria as a lawless fiefdom where executive whims trump judicial finality. It signals weakness to our oppressors, implying Kanu is guilty when the law has exonerated him,” the statement read.
The group warned that those who persist in such calls “will be seen as enablers of oppression” and vowed to intensify protests, legal action, and international advocacy for Kanu’s release.
Kanu, first arrested in 2015 and granted bail in 2017, fled Nigeria before being rearrested in 2021 under circumstances that have drawn widespread condemnation from human rights groups.
He is currently facing terrorism-related charges in Abuja.